All the therapists listed on the PTSDhelp directory have agreed to provide their professional services for no more than £35.00 Per individual therapy session to UK service personnel serving or retired who are affected by PTSD.

Home

Chanice Ward served six years in the Royal Medical Corps and won award medals from Bosnia and Kosovo. But she now suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and earlier this month lost her driving license after she was caught drink-driving.
But she does not want her illness to excuse her crime, which she said was just a stupid mistake, as DAVID BALE reports.
Chanice Ward's father and uncles all served in the Armed Forces and she became the first female in the family to join up in 1997.  It was something she always wanted to do and she thought that she would take to army life like a duck to water. But a few years later she realised something was wrong and that she was not feeling right.  She twice tried to kill herself but her bosses would not accept she was suffering from an illness and her complaints fell on deaf ears.  After six years she was forced out of the army and 'administratively' discharged, even though she wanted to stay.   Six years later she is finally getting her life back on track. She has a good job as a personal assistant in Norwich and is getting regular help from doctors and psychiatrists to fight her illness. Today she spoke about the horrific war experiences that left her with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and survivors' guilt. The 29-year-old single woman, from Barford, near Hethersett, said: “I was only diagnosed with PTSD after I left the army, but I had it before, even though, then, I did not know why I was suffering and that it was an illness.  “It was only when I was diagnosed that I realised that my experiences had triggered the illness. For me it was an acceptance that I was normal, and that it was an illness. I would like people to be aware that it can happen. “I know the army has finally admitted that there is such a thing as PTSD, but I'm slightly bitter that they did not help me.  “They just got rid of me. It's only now that I can cope with going back and taking the case to the British Legion for wrongful dismissal.”
Miss Ward joined the forces in Norwich in April 1997 and was stationed for three years in Germany. During that time she was sent on a tour of Kosovo in 1998/9 and the following year to Bosnia. She tried to kill herself by taking an overdose in Bosnia in 1999 and again through an overdose and slashing her wrists while on exercise in Canada in 2002. From Germany she was transferred to a psychiatric hospital in Catterick, North Yorkshire. She said: “When I came back from Kosovo I knew I had PTSD. I realised how angry I was against just about everything. Over time it became an issue and I sought medical help. “Then I went out to Bosnia and, partly because my experiences reminded me of what happened in Kosovo, it all came back, and I sought medical help again.” Earlier this month The Evening News reported that Miss Ward was two and a half times the legal drink-drive limit when she was stopped by police on December 12.
The court heard she had decided to drive home following a Christmas office party in Norwich. She gave a reading of 88mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath when the legal limit is 35 mg. She was fined £250 plus a surcharge of £15 and ordered to pay £60 costs. She was banned from driving for 16 months. Robert Marsh, a spokesman for the charity Combat Stress, which helps veterans suffering from PTSD, said Miss Ward's suicide attempts and suffering were fairly typical of veterans they helped. He said: “In the last three years we have seen a

53pc increase in the number of new veterans seeking our help.”